Monday, February 11, 2008

"Bionic Woman," "Big Shots" to Get Canceled?

According to TV Guide, there won't be new episodes of NBC's reimagined 2007 version of the cult classic "Bionic Woman" and ABC's Thursday night CEO drama "Big Shots" this spring and they are also not expected to return for the 2008/2009 season.

Some freshman shows like ABC's "Pushing Daisies," CBS' "Moonlight" or NBC's "Life" which showed quite a bit of potential when they launched last fall are expected to return in the fall with a 13-episode order.

The networks are not ready to shell out big bucks to promote their brief returns in the spring, since neither one of them is a blazing ratings success. But they are also hardly a failure, and they will be given a chance next year to continue to build their momentum. Shows like "Bionic Woman" or "Big Shots" however are not expected to get that chance.

NBC's "Bionic Woman" managed to pull off the same trick that made ABC's "Commander In Chief" one of the greatest failures in recent TV history. It started off as one of the strongest new shows this season capturing over 14 million viewers, only to see a massive chunk of that audience quickly abandon the show. It took "Chief" an entire season to do that - "Bionic Woman" however bled to 6 million in only 2 months.

ABC's "Big Shots," on the other hand, got one of the most most valued pieces of TV real estate - the lucrative post-Grey's Anatomy spot on Thursday nights at 10. For over two months, the show kept losing over half of its gigantic 18+ million lead-in audience, averaging 8-9 million viewers. The most recent episodes of the critically-panned series went further down to 5-6 million.

Other freshman series not expected to make the cut for the 2008/2009 season are CBS' "Cane" and NBC's "Journeyman." But since only CBS' mega-flop "Viva Laughlin" has been officially canceled thus far, keep an eye on the network announcements. It may be highly unlikely, but perhaps one of these shows might get a last-minute benefit of the doubt.

Click HERE to see my earlier post on the average season ratings of all new shows launched in the 2007/2008 TV season.